The resolution was a last-minute measure to prevent an American strike on Syria in retaliation for the regime's alleged use of chemical weapons in an attack on a Damascus suburb in August that left hundreds dead.

On Friday, in response to the delay, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry warned Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad he could face consequences for failing to live up to international agreements on the issue.

"We now know that the Assad regime is not moving as rapidly as it promised to move the chemical weapons out of Syria," he said.

"I would remind Bashar Al-Assad that the agreement that we reached in New York with the (UN) Security Council makes it clear that if there are issues of non-compliance, they will be referred to the Security Council for Chapter 7 compliance purposes," added Kerry.

The first batch of chemical weapon materials was moved out of the country earlier this month, and a second shipment was removed last week, but the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has said that Damascus had handed over less than five percent of the most dangerous chemicals in its possession.

General Breedlove urged for “less time” to “spend moving these weapons around,” to minimize their “threat” by reducing its “exposure.”

A senior State Department official said that Kerry pressed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to put more pressure on Damascus to make real progress on destroying its chemical weapons arsenal and repeated his concerns about the humanitarian situation.